With the Stars to Guide You
by TanteKJ
Summary: "A fine man and a brave one." A legacy of fathers and sons.


AN: I own not "The Sound of Music" or any of its characters. The few words from the lullaby are not mine either; is credited to Richard and Robert Sherman; and is property of The Disney Corporation. I've used some details from real life with regards to Georg's father.

Georg did his best to keep pace with the boisterous conversation that bounced around the dinner table. His children were in rare form, bolstered by the sudden arrival of Uncle Max to the Villa. All seven of them seemed to have something that just must be shared with him at the same moment in time. Georg half-contemplated pulling out his whistle and giving it a good blow just to see if he could shock them into silence long enough to actually eat their dinner.  
The one person who was focused on the meal was Georg's unusually quiet wife, sitting almost alone at her end of the table. Oh, she made polite conversation, replying to the children if they asked her something specifically, helping Gretl cut her food as always, but tonight something about Maria was off and Georg couldn't figure out what it could be.

His focus on his wife was interrupted by Friedrich who, with clear pride in his voice, was telling Max of the training he and Georg had began earlier in the week.

"Rising with the sun to engage in physical activity?" Max said, with a raised eyebrow. "Sounds dreadful."

"Oh, no! It's wonderful!" Friedrich replied. "It's so quiet and the air is so cooling to the skin! I outran Father the very first day!"

"Ha! I bet you did." Max said, shooting Georg a look.

"In my defense, I was up rather late the night before." Georg said.

"Excuses, excuses." Max shot back playfully. "You know, Georg, there is no shame in admitting that you're not as young as you used to be."

"Neither are you." Georg returned.

"A joy I have fully embraced, old friend."

"Joy?" Georg asked.

"Of course! No one expects me to rise early and that works out just fine for me. I can stay up as late as I want and be no worse for wear the next day."

"Yes, well, my late nights are much more engaging than yours, I can assure you."

"Well, when you're talking about an audience of one- "

"That's quite enough of that!" Georg interrupted, his eyes on his children before moving back to Max.

Max simply shrugged, the expression on his face clearly one of "you started it," and he returned to his dinner once again.

Seizing upon the lull in the conversation, Friedrich addressed Georg.

"Can we continue our training tomorrow, Father?"

Georg nodded before taking a sip of his wine.

"You really are considering a life in the Navy?" Max asked Friedrich.

Friedrich nodded.

"I want to be prepared for – "

The rest of his sentence died on his lips as a loud clatter rent the air. All eyes flew to the end of the table where Maria had dropped her fork onto her plate and was staring down at her husband.

"Mother?" Liesl asked.

Squaring her shoulders, Maria carefully slid her chair back from the table. She gently set her napkin on the table and stood, smoothing her skirt as she did so.

"If you will excuse me." She murmured as she strode from the room.

Georg tried to reach out to her as she passed him, a frown marring his features when she deliberately dodged his touch.

Turning back to his family, Georg shook his head ever so slightly at the look Max was shooting his way, grateful when his old friend steered the conversation back to his trademarked light-hearted frivolity.

"Maria?"

Maria hastily wiped at her eyes when she heard Georg called out to her.

"Darling? Are you – what are you doing?"

Maria felt Georg's presence behind her from where she stood on the balcony off their bedroom.

"Darling?"

His voice was closer, meaning he was closer. She really didn't want to do this, not yet, but his hand on her shoulder left her no choice.

Seething, she spun on her heels and faced her husband.

"Must you encourage him? In front of everyone? It is one thing to do drills with him in the morning, but encouraging him to enlist is just…just…"

Her voice failed her as her emotions clogged her throat, but she had opened this Pandora's box and she couldn't back down now.

Georg, for his part, stood slightly dumbstruck at Maria's outburst.

"Friedrich? I'm not encouraging him to do anything."

"Oh, please! You are not that naive."

"Excuse me?" Georg returned, a spark of anger lighting inside him.

"What do you think will come from this, hmm? He's not ready!" Maria snapped.

"Oh, really?" Georg returned, crossing his arms over his chest. "'Friedrich, he's a boy, but he wants to be a man, like you, and there's no one to show him how!' Ring a bell?"

"I didn't mean for it to be this way!" Maria said.

"How then?" Georg challenged. "My military training helped turn me into the man I am. Why can't the same be true for my son?"

"Because you're here!"

The words flew from her lips before she could stop them, her hand flying to cover her mouth.

Drawing a slow breath in through his nose, Georg allowed his shoulders to rise and fall before replying to his wife.

"I believe," he began, his voice soft, "that we should continue this discussion at a later time."

He turned from her then and left the room, leaving her standing for mere seconds before her legs gave out of her and she sank down heavily onto their bed.

Maria ran a gentle hand over the empty bed space where Georg should be.

He hadn't returned to their bedroom for several hours and Maria had not wanted to leave their bedroom since their fight. She kept replaying the scene over and over in her head, the only interruptions being self-reminders to thank Liesl and Frau Schmidt for getting the little ones ready for bed that night.

Maria sat up anxiously as the bedroom door opened.

"Mother?"

"Marta?" Maria asked, her worries about her husband momentarily set aside. "Are you alright?"

"I can't sleep."

"Come here." Maria said, reaching out for her daughter.

Marta crossed the room and climbed up onto the bed.

"Now." Maria asked, drawing Marta onto her lap. "What's all this about?"

"I can't sleep." Marta repeated.

"Why?" Maria asked, brushing back the hair from Marta's forehead.

Marta simply shrugged, causing Maria to smile.

"Can I sleep in here?" She asked.

"Oh." Maria began. "Well…"

On any other night, Maria wouldn't hesitate to say yes, but tonight, with issues between she and Georg unresolved, Maria really didn't know what to say.

"Let's try this…let's go back to your room and I'll sing you a special song I know. If you still can't sleep, you can come back in here. Deal?"

"Deal." Marta smiled.

The two returned to the nursery where Maria tucked Marta in and sang softly to her, gently stroking her hair as she did so.

"…don't nod and dream…"

Maria exhaled softly as she finished the lullaby, greatly relieved that her efforts had been successful. Quietly as she could, Maria left the nursery and returned to her bedroom.

Slipping into her bedroom, Maria had just made it to her bedside when Georg's voice broke the silence, scaring the daylights out of her.

"The military is no more a place for misfits and orphans than the Abbey is."

Spinning around, her hand at her throat, Maria's eyes fell onto her husband's form where he stood in the doorway to the balcony.

"I know." She replied softly, trying in vain to calm her pounding heart. "I never should have said what I did. I do apologize."

"I didn't join the Navy just because my father died when I was a child." He continued. "I wanted to serve. I wanted to honor my homeland and, yes, my father, but…"

"Darling, I never should have said what I did." Maria repeated, walking over to him.

"He was a fine man, Maria, and a brave one."

Maria smiled in the darkness at her husband's soft words.

"The Reverend Mother said the same thing about you." She said, reaching to slide her hands into his. "You've been walking the grounds." She stated as her warm fingers came into contact with his cold ones.  
"How did you know I was walking the grounds?" He asked.  
"You smell like the outside." She answered, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze.  
"Oh, come now. Surely you can't tell that!"  
"You doubt your child of the mountain, Captain?"  
The question made him smile ever so slightly.  
"I wouldn't dare." He smiled.

"It scares me." She whispered suddenly.

"I know." He said, gathering her in his arms. "It scares me, too. But we do our children no favors by lying to them. I'd rather teach him everything I know and be the one to answer his questions than let _them_ fill his head with their poison."

Maria nodded against his chest in agreement and understanding.

"Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels."

Georg sought Maria's eyes as she lifted her head and gazed up at him.

"A quote from an American poet I studied named Longfellow. No matter what happens with any member of our family, the stars will be there to guide us as they are the signs we need that we are not alone. The stars will guide Friedrich."

"Much as they guided me." Georg replied softly.

Maria nodded.

"And me….I love you, Georg."

"I love you, Maria."

He gently cupped her chin with his hand and brought her face towards his, their lips meeting in a sweet kiss. Her arms wrapped tighter around his torso, her hands moving of their own accord as their kiss deepened.

His hands tangled through her silky strands as hers came to rest on his hips.

Georg smiled against Maria's lips as he felt her push slightly against his body, trying to pivot him towards the bed. He dropped his hands from her hair and wrapped them around her waist, lifting her into the air. She squealed softly and kissed him even deeper than before, their bodies colliding as one onto the mattress.

Gentle gasps and murmurs of love floated out of the open balcony doors as husband and wife moved together, the stars above the Villa Von Trapp twinkling brightly in the clear night sky…


End file.
